Not long after the last Wells Fargo stage left Golden in October 1869, the seeds began to be sown that would mark its return.  Louis J. Smith of Plymouth, Pennsylvania came here in 1873 to establish Golden's 2nd bank, at the southeast corner of what is now 12th & Washington.  There he built an impressive Italiante brick building with arches of stone cut and laid by George Morrison from the quarries at his future townsite south of Golden.

Jefferson County Bank - 1893
Also with clothing store of Charles H. Wade
From the Golden Globe Industrial Edition, May 15, 1893

Jefferson County Bank prospered in business, outlasting Golden's first bank, which had come to be owned by Francis E. Everett and would experience a spectacular demise due to his fraud and suicide in 1884.  From that point forward, Golden had only one bank for 26 years.  The Jefferson County Bank went down with the Silver Crash of 1893, and community investors stepped in to resurrect it as the Woods & Rubey Bank.  Spearheading its newfound strength were brothers Harold M. and Jesse W. Rubey, sons of matriarch Ella M. Rubey who lived at the house the Foothills Art Center gift shop now is at, 1510 Washington Avenue.

Jesse W. Rubey
From the Colorado Transcript, January 1, 1906

Harold devoted his time to clay mining; Jesse placed his energy in the bank.  In 1901 the Rubeys hired the respected Denver architectural firm of Thomas, Dryden & Thomas to expand their building by a third to the south, and remodel the whole in neoclassical design.  When finished the Rubey Block was downtown's premier landmark, topped by a cornice of zinc crafted by noted Golden hardware dealer John H. Linder.  When Harold Rubey died, Jesse commissioned a painting by renowned Santa Fe artist Gerald M. Cassidy, Dawn of the West, to be placed in Golden's new high school at 10th and Washington.  It has remained ever since, now housed between the doorways of the American Mountaineering Center auditorium.  Today a street of north Golden also remembers Rubey's legacy.

Rubey National Bank - 1901
Note Williams Building under construction to right
Photo courtesy Golden History Center

Jesse Rubey eventually sold the bank and moved east.  Then in 1929 the Great Depression hit, and the federal government to protect investors ordered Rubey National closed down.  John Q. Adams was appointed receiver, to manage its affairs and liquidate its assets, coming as a stranger to a scornful town.  Quickly, however, Adams gained friends and inspired confidence from the community through his shrewd management of the bank's affairs and maximizing returns to its investors.  A movement to draft Adams to begin a new bank was started from afar by Jesse Rubey, and investors led by Paul V. Pattridge stepped forward to help capitalize it.  Adams resigned his federal commission, and the bank building was auctioned to a friendly owner, and in 1937 First National Bank, led by Adams, was born.

John Q. Adams
Courtesy Colorado Transcript

First National Bank tellers at grand opening - 1937
From the Colorado Transcript, 1937

First National grew and grew, and in 1957 it moved to its distinctive modern quarters at the southeast corner of 13th & Jackson, designed by another noted Denver architect, William C. Munchow.  In 1970, the bank expanded its quarters and in the 1980s built a second building, and became the first franchise bank of the First Interstate Bank system.  It bought what was Miller's Market across the street to the north, a building designed and built by local architects and contractors in 1966 to be the prototype for the Colorado-based grocery chain.  That building was turned into the Loan Department.  During the 1990s the bank reverted to a local name, Goldenbanks, and for the first time opened branches of its own.  It was soon purchased by Minneapolis-based Norwest Banks, which in turn merged in 1999 with Wells, Fargo & Company, still based in San Francisco.

First National Bank - 1958
From the Colorado Transcript, 1958

After 130 years of absence, Wells Fargo has returned to Golden, after all this time ending up only a block east of its historic location.  Now Wells Fargo owns its 3rd, 4th and 5th buildings in Golden, these being much larger and made of brick instead of stone and wood.  Today it concentrates on banking for Goldenites, while the colorful shadows of its past remain here with us.  Wells Fargo has resumed its place here in Golden with a renewed commitment to its honored tradition that they had built here before they left.

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